The Seed of Magic (SP fanfic)
by Malachite237
Summary: Two girls. One with a secret she won't tell and one with a secret she doesn't know. One of them is the most important person in all of the magic world and the other as the key to unlock her power, and they are both being chased by a psychopath. Can Skulduggery and Valkyrie save them both and save the world? Bad summary, keep reading for better story! T for violence!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello there! I promise I'll try and not have too many Author's Notes but I would just like to start off with a mini introduction and a dedication. This is my first** ** _published_** **Skulduggery Pleasant fanfiction and I hope it is up to all your expectations. I don't mind helpful criticism as long as it is useful and something obvious or plain like grammar or spelling. I AM ONLY HUMAN! (unfortunately). As I aid I don't mind criticism as long as that is what it is. Please do not waste your lives by sending hate messages or whatever. Seriously, you could be doing so much better.**

 **Anyway, that's the boring stuff. Here is the good bit. DEDICATION!**

 **This ENTIRE book is dedicated to my best friend because she is a genius and is all round awesome. She has helped me in so many ways with my writing that the only way I could thing to show her how grateful I am is by writing this. So please be thinking of my genius best friend while you are reading this. Did I mention she was a genius? The amount of amazing story ideas she comes up with, WOW!**

 **I don't own Skulduggery Pleasant! I wish I was that genius. I do own all OC's! Except Ikaila cause she's my friend I don't own her XD.**

 **Ok on to the really, really, good stuff. The story...**

Chapter 1

Valkyrie sat in the passenger of a not so ugly rental car, staring out of the window in utter boredom. They had been chasing Billy-Ray and Tanith all over Ireland, and now were chasing them through the scorching cities of Australia. A tip off from a friend of a friend of someone's sister had informed them that the pair had been looking for someone. Someone who been apparently hard to find.

The tip off had narrowed down their field of search to a street in a small city in the big state of Queensland. One of the twelves houses on the street was being targeted by the hit man and Tanith. One of them housed someone of importance to someone house.

The only problem was figuring out which house that was.

Valkyrie was restless in in her seat, fingers drumming against her knee in impatience trying to view the situation in an optimistic way.

She liked Australia. Fletcher had taken her there a few times when they were dating and it'd always been fun. It was warm and sunny and lots of funny little animals. Fletcher had once told her about drop bears and Valkyrie was still annoyed she'd believed him. She fought monsters on a daily basis, with that kind of job it's hard to tell what was real and what wasn't.

The car door opened and Skulduggery got out staring at something across the street. Valkyrie looked up at him with a frown and opened her own door.

"What's wrong?" She asked following his gaze to a cream coloured, two storey house. His dark brown eyes, gifted to him by his façade, scanned the house in that detective way of his.

"There was a crash inside the house." He stated still seeing something she wasn't.

"It could have been a dog." She shrugged.

"The window shattered."

"It could be a very strong dog."

"Valkyrie I highly doubt it was a dog." She looked at him.

"Why? What's so improbable about a dog?" He pointed to the house and they watched someone be thrown across the front balcony.

"It still could be a dog." She persisted as they ran across the street. The sun was warm against her skin, but she tried not to notice it too much and focused more on the number of parked cars in the neighbour's houses. The dry grass crunched under their feet when they ran onto the front yard and continued towards the stairs leading up to the front door and balcony.

They reached the top and Skulduggery ducked as Billy-Ray stepped out from the corner swinging a chair at his head. It missed him and Valkyrie leant backwards, watching the chair leg whizz passed her nose. Skulduggery tackled Billy-Ray and Valkyrie moved to help the girl as another girl climbed through the window beating her to her. A third person climbed through the window and Valkyrie joined in with the two girls as they glared at the black lipped woman.

Tanith noticed Valkyrie out of the corner of her eye and turned to her with a smile, black veins painting her face, making everyone shiver. Valkyrie splayed her hands but Tanith moved around the displaced air which proceeded to snap the wooden rail of the balcony.

The girl leaning on the rail fell backwards managing to grab the edge stopping her from belly flopping on the cement below. Colourful words left her lips and her friend was immediately trying to pull her up.

Valkyrie ducked under a well-aimed kick and lashed out with her own. Tanith knocked the kick away and sent a knee into Valkyrie's stomach, knocking all the air out of her lungs. She stumbled back, breathless, diaphragm all tensed up while Tanith advanced. One of the girls, the taller of the two, stepped in front of Valkyrie and pushed the swordswoman back with a wave of energy.

Skulduggery punched Billy-Ray's nose and he howled in pain swinging his straight razor wildly. He twisted out of Skulduggery's grip and kicked out his knees and Skulduggery used that to roll forward and get back to his feet. Billy-Ray punched him and Skulduggery punched him back forcing the eyeless man to take a step back onto open air, sending him tumbling painfully down the steps.

Valkyrie blocked more hits from Tanith and the girl intervened again with another shot of energy. The swords woman stumbled back onto the only remaining railing and leaned against it like she'd meant to do it. She smiled warmly, watching Skulduggery join the circle of people surrounding her. She turned her attention to the two girls and winked at them.

"I'll be back." She assured before she vaulted over the balcony edge. The girls ran to the rail, leaning over it as they watched the Billy-Ray and Tanith sink into the ground with a cheerful parting wave. Skulduggery fixed his tie and picked up his fallen hat.

"Told you it wasn't a dog." Valkyrie smiled at him before walking to the two girls. He rolled his eyes and followed. "Are you two ok?" The girls spun around to face them and took a wary step back. "My name is Valkyrie Cain and this is my friend Skulduggery pleasant." Skulduggery smiled and gave a small wave.

"Obviously you know about magic." He said, more of a statement than a question. They both nodded. "Do you have names?" Another nod. He stayed silent waiting for the two to answer and for a moment it was awkward.

"Ikaila Skye." The tallest girl with curly dark blonde hair held out her hand to shake Skulduggery's, breaking the awkwardness. He shook it and looked at the other girl. "Malachite Burada." Ikaila said pointing to the other girl, who nodded shyly in greeting, ignoring the out stretched hand. She watched from behind her friend with curious and playful dark blue eyes.

"What just happened?" Ikaila demanded.

"You were attacked." Skulduggery stated and she rolled her eyes.

"We figured that one out Sherlock. Why were we attacked?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"You're detectives?" They both nodded. "Look Mal you get to meet real life detectives." She chuckled nudging her friend who in return glared.

"Would there be any reason why someone would attack you?" Skulduggery asked interrupting the pair before any sort of bickering started. Their attention was returned to them and Ikaila looked at him as if to say 'are you serious?'

"How many people do you meet who know why they are being attacked?" She asked rhetorically before shaking her head. "No we don't know. We've never had any connection to people like you." Valkyrie frowned.

"Then how do you know about magic?" Valkyrie asked. Malachite touched Ikaila's arm. Valkyrie didn't pay attention to the motion but Skulduggery tilted his head slightly.

"We taught ourselves. Look that's beside the point." Skulduggery cut in.

"That may be so but it might run so closely beside the point that with the slightest nudge it becomes relevant information that could be completely vital in the figuring out of what is going on." There was a moment of silence after that where everyone but Malachite just blinked blankly.

"Wow. Check it out Mal he sounds worse than you." Malachite glared again, but was ignored by her friend whose eyes flicked back to Skulduggery defiantly, confidently. "Anyway as I said. We taught ourselves." Skulduggery didn't look convinced but dropped the subject. Ikaila glanced around at the neighbouring houses. "Maybe we should take this inside, before someone sees us." An agreement was made immediately and Malachite moved from her almost fixed position go climb through the window and open the locked door from the inside.

Silently, and in a slight act of confidence she dramatically motioned them in, bowing like a fancy waiter in a fancy restaurant, possibly a French one. All she need was the moustache, an accent and possible a gender change and she'd fit in perfectly.

The interrogation was resumed almost instantaneously.

"Did you attackers happen to mention anything about their employer? Or about what they were to do with you? Those two have a slight habit of boasting while they work." Ikaila looked at Malachite then back to Skulduggery and Valkyrie. The two girls stood on the other side of the couch keeping a bit of distance. Malachite had her hands on Ikaila's shoulders like a toddler peeking over her mother's shoulder.

"How can we trust you? How do we know you're not working with them and trying to trick us into going with you? For all we know you could be the real bad guys." She challenged before abruptly sighing and shaking Malachite off her. "If you want to say something then you say it don't relay it through me." Malachite smiled cheekily but blushed and stayed where she was behind Ikaila.

"You can trust us." Valkyrie assured taking control of the conversation.

"They have a point though. They have every reason not to trust us..." Skulduggery insisted completely diminishing that control.

"You're not helping." She muttered in annoyance, interrupting the skeleton detective.

"... but what reason do you have to not trust us?" Skulduggery asked. Malachite hesitated then took a step out from behind Ikaila.

"They didn't say anything useful but I know the person chasing us is a man. A mage like you. He wants us for something but I'm not sure what." Skulduggery did his usual head tilt thing as he listened to Malachite, her words echoing in his mind. _They didn_ _'_ _t say anything_ _…_ _but I know. How could she know?_

"They didn't mention this person's name?" He persisted, but she just shook her head and resumed her position behind her friend. Clearly there was a degree of shyness here. "Well it's a start at least." He sighed. "Hopefully Ghastly took my advice and has got us a name." Skulduggery said solely to Valkyrie who nodded.

"Well what are we going to do now?" She half whispered to him. "We can't exactly leave them alone. If our bad guy is after them then we have, I don't know an advantage?" Skulduggery nodded in agreement.

"An advantage would be good. We haven't had one of those in a while."

"You do know we are right here?" Ikaila said interrupting the tea party.

"It would be the safest route." Valkyrie continued as if she hadn't even spoken. Ikaila glared, crossing her arms, definitely not pleased by the fact she was being ignored.

"Ok but if something happens to the Bentley because of them I'm leaving them at the sanctuary." Finally they both turned to the girls in acknowledgement. "We think it would be in your best interests to come with us."

"We think it is in our best interest to ensure our own safety." Ikaila said defiantly and a little sourly. "So far the best way to do that would be to go with you." Ikaila agreed. The house phone suddenly started ringing and Malachite snuck off to check who it was. She picked up the phone and handed it to Ikaila who answered. "Hey mum." She said as she started walking out of the room leaving Malachite awkwardly by herself.

It was silently for a few moments and Malachite didn't like the silence. She racked her brain for anything to say.

"You're wearing a mask." She finally decided. "You're wearing a façade, right?" He furrowed his new brows.

"Um..."

"Can you take off the mask?" She said a little stronger. "There is no point in keeping secrets from us." There was truth in her words but the shock by the fact she just knew made him hesitated. Slowly he reached up and tapped the hidden symbols under his collar. The waxy skin seemedto almost melt away, revealing the skull beneath the facade. She smiled at the sight and said nothing. Ikaila walked back out to see what was taking Malachite so long. She looked at Skulduggery and stopped.

"Whoa... A skeleton? Seriously?" She questioned. "That's... actually cool." She smiled completely calm. Perhaps too many books had been read and too many movies watched desensitizing the girls to the abnormalities of the hidden world. "Let us get out of our pyjamas and we'll be with you in a sec." She continued like there was nothing weird standing in the middle of the lounge room.

Valkyrie looked at their clothes only just realising that despite it being midday they were still dressed in their pyjamas.

"What about our parents?" Malachite asked stopping before she entered the hallway. "They'll notice we are missing."

"I'd be worried if they didn't," muttered Ikaila.

"That's easily fixed. Do you have two full length mirrors?" Skulduggery asked and Malachite nodded.

 **A/N VOTE AND COMMENT! If you read this chapter and thought 'hmm... it wasn't that good' than I dare you to keep reading. Trust me on this, it only gets better. It gets darker and funnier and the bad guy! ooh... *shiver* So PLEASE! give me a chance and continue. You know you are at least a little bit curious.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Malachite's POV (third person still)

The reflections were creepy and Malachite was making sure everyone knew it. Since the mask thing before she hadn't directly spoken to Skulduggery or Valkyrie unless they spoke to her. Although she did break that silence when asking about the reflections. Asking several times. Skulduggery had to assure her at least three times that her family would be safe with the reflection and yet she still didn't look convinced.

The pair dressed in more sociable clothes, Malachite with a blue checkered shirt and Ikaila in a grey shirt with a howling wolf on the front. They shoved clothes in a bag and Malachite swung it over her shoulders seemingly comforted by the weight on her back. Skulduggery had agreed with them when they said they'd be away from home a bit and they grabbed anything deemed necessary for being without their parents.

They met Skulduggery and Valkyrie in the lounge room and walked past the broken window. It was obvious they couldn't fix it and so they fed the reflections a story that would be the least troublesome. A rock thrown by some idiots should be enough to freak their parents out but not involve the police. Hopefully.

They made sure no neighbours were watching and made their way to a blue rental car that was stamped with company logos. They drove for about five minutes before stopping outside a hotel. Skulduggery had put his facade back on and they took an elevator to the fourth floor and knocked on the eighth door down the hallway. A kid with gravity defying hair that Valkyrie named Fletcher stepped out.

No one warned them what happened next and with a slightly annoyed look on his face he grabbed Valkyrie's arm and everyone else grabbed an arm. Then the world around them disappeared.

The hotel room was replaced with an empty shop. It was neat and clean with half-done clothes hanging off mannequins in the windows. Malachite stumbled to the ground and dropped her back before laying down, her head spinning. It was dark outside and they could basically feel the cold through the windows.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick." She screwed her eyes shut and Valkyrie chuckled.

"Don't worry it gets better after a while."

"Taxi is now out of service." Said Fletcher a moment before he disappeared.

"Never do that again." Ikaila said not realising he had left. She leant against a coffee table for support as she tried to focus. "And Malachite if you throw up you're sucking it back up through a straw because I ain't cleaning it up." She said sternly with a smile. Malachite and Valkyrie shuddered at the thought.

"I'm not even gonna respond to that." Skulduggery disappeared out back probably looking for Ghastly leaving Valkyrie to watch the girls.

"Where are we?" Ikaila asked standing up.

"You're-" Malachite interrupted Valkyrie and sat up suddenly.

"We're in Ireland." She cringed and slowly got to her feet

"You brought us to Ireland?" Ikaila asked in disbelief. Malachite threw a jumper up to her and pulled one out for herself smiling as she wrapped herself in it. "That thing is like a hundred years old." She commented as Malachite grabbed out another jumper and put it around her worn out green warn.

"Correction, three." Valkyrie frowned, confused.

"She likes to exaggerate things. A year is a century. She thinks it makes her sound 'cooler'." Ikaila explained doing the bunny ear thing in the air.

"Do not!" Malachite exclaimed slapping her leg which really did nothing. "A century just has more syllables than a year." Valkyrie blinked.

"Syllables?" Malachite didn't say anything so Valkyrie looked to Ikaila who shrugged.

"She likes long words with 'fun' syllables. Don't ask, the more you know the weirder we get. She's only slightly crazy." Malachite gaped at her friend.

"Only slightly crazy!? How dare you!? Did you just down grade me from insane to 'slightly crazy'!?" She didn't need an answer and so she flipped up her furry hood and turned the other way.

"Awe, is the baby pouting?" Ikaila teased in a cooey voice.

"Pouting? No, why would I be pouting over this? I am simply ignoring you." Ikaila laughed and petted her head.

"Ok, I'll let the adorable two year old have her pout."

"I am not adorable!" She exclaimed throwing her arms to the side much like an adorable two year old would when chucking a tantrum. Realising what she did she crossed her arms and hid in her hood. Her cheeks burned red as she realised Valkyrie had just witnessed the whole thing. "I hate you." She mumbled making Ikaila laugh again.

"How goes the babysitting?" Everyone looked up as Skulduggery walked back in the room, followed by a man with a scarred head.

"Its certainly interesting." Valkyrie commented, relieved the more adult people had come back.

"Hey! We are not babies now do we need to be sat on." She glanced at Malachite. "Well I'm not a baby." Still sitting on the ground Malachite hit her leg again. Skulduggery interrupted the mini feud.

"Malachite, Ikaila this is Ghastly Bespoke." Ghastly shook Ikaila's hand then went to shake Malachite's hand but she just nodded in greeting and so he turned away not sure what to think of the pair. One thing was for sure, they had respect. Neither of them stared at the scars on his head nor did they avoid looking at him. Malachite tilted her head in curiosity looking up at him.

"Do you know why people are chasing us?" She asked her voice like a child's, surprising everyone but Ikaila as she finally spoke for herself.

"No but I know who is." Responded Ghastly who wasn't surprised because he didn't know her. "His name is Alex Shade. He recently escaped from prison with the help of Billy-Ray and Tanith."

"The people who just attacked us." Ikaila noted. Ghastly nodded.

"They're also wanted criminals. Apparently you two are very popular." He chuckled.

"Yay for us." Ikaila said sarcastically. "Obviously we either have something people want or we know something." She mused, once again sounding like she'd seen too many movies or read too many books. The world of fiction was apparently a good training tool to prepare people for the unknown and slightly shocking. "But what...?" She trailed off leaving the question open in the air.

"Now who sounds like a detective?" Malachite mumbled with a smirk.

"What if your parents have something to do with it?" Skulduggery suggested. "Parents tend to do weird things for weird reasons."

"My Dad would be unlikely and my mum a definite no." Malachite shook her head. "What about yours?" Ikaila rolled her eyes.

"Just no. They laugh at any relation to magic... And my dad's way too daft for this." She chuckled.

"Hold on." Valkyrie said. "You two aren't sisters?" They smiled shaking their heads.

"No just childhood friends."

"Which is close enough in a way." Malachite added.

"Valkyrie I worry about your detective skills if you hadn't figured that out." Skulduggery said sounding amused.

"Yeah well there was a lot to say they could be." She grumbled.

"Actually-"

"Don't start." She turned away from him and back to the girls. There was a lot to suggest they were sisters. For starters they both had dark blonde hair though Ikaila's was short and curly with a bit of frizz while Malachite was longer and straighter. Even their eyes wear similar. Valkyrie shook her head. "So you really have no idea why someone would be looking for you?" She said obviously changing the subject.

"We're certain. As we said before we've never interacted with your world before." Ikaila swayed slightly without realising. Malachite stood behind her. "We promise you we have no Idea." She stumbled back and Malachite caught her. Her face paled and she cringed.

"What's happening?" Ghastly asked as Ikaila fell to her knees gripping her chest.

"Mal what's wrong with me?" She managed through gritted teeth before her body shuddered and she cried out in a pain. Malachite cursed and knelt down next to her ignoring the odd looks from Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Ghastly. She placed two fingers on Ikaila's forehead and starting tracing an invisible circle on her skin. Slowly her eyes fluttered closed and silence settled.

Until Skulduggery looked down at his gloved.

"What's wrong?" Asked Valkyrie as he pulled off his glove.

"My finger has fallen off." Everyone blinked and watched as his pinky finger dropped to the ground. "Well that's interesting." He mumbled.

"That's disturbing." Valkyrie said picking it up. The bone finger twitched and Valkyrie threw it into the air with a disgusted cry.

"Be careful, I'm fragile." He picked up his finger and reattached it with a grunt. "I do believe you owe us an explanation." Malachite didn't say anything. She just sat and watched her friend as she slept.

"Let's take this to the sanctuary. She looks like she needs a doctor." Ghastly nodded to a very pale Ikaila.

"Yeah she doesn't look too good." Valkyrie agreed. Malachite also nodded.

"She should be fine but I would like someone to keep an eye on her." She said quietly. Skulduggery could basically see the secrets hovering around the girls head.

Skulduggery carried Ikaila to the Bentley and they drove to the sanctuary in silence. Malachite felt awkward sitting in a car with a bunch of strangers she hardly knew. She wished Ikaila would wake up. It was boring by herself and being too shy to talk to people made it even more so. They arrived at a grey looking town with grey looking people. Everyone seemed to know everyone here because Malachite was receiving glares kept for intruders.

The sanctuary was a maze and Malachite found it difficult to keep track of where everything was as they passed numerous doors and lots of bored looking faces. They took the still unconscious Ikaila to the infirmary and Malachite froze when she saw Doctor Nye. She watched it with a glare as it examined Ikaila with its beady yellow eyes.

"She's fine." It said and started walking away.

"That's it?" Valkyrie asked. It nodded.

"The only thing I can see that is wrong with her is that fact she's unconscious." Malachite nodded.

"Ok that's good." She turned quickly and walked out of the infirmary aware of Skulduggery behind her. He stopped her just outside the infirmary door and spoke.

"You know something." He said flatly.

"I know a lot of things." She mumbled looking everywhere but at Skulduggery.

"You're keeping something from Ikaila." Her eyes shot up at him and she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"What makes you say that?"

"Several things but I doubt you want to hear my theories." She cast her eyes back to the ground. "You don't like talking to people." Malachite shrugged.

"Give me a day and you'll be asking me to shut up."

"Why is someone chasing you?" Another shrug.

"I don't know."

"I think you do."

"I think you're persistent."

"I think you're hiding something."

"So you said."

"What's your discipline?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'm a detective. Every detail counts. Clues are pieces of a puzzle and the smallest ones could make the biggest differences."

"Then I'm a very small piece."

"Will a time arise that you'll be willing answer all my questions?" She looked up at him and smiled.

"Probably."

"And am I also correct in assuming I'll have to wait till then."

"That is a fairly accurate assumption."

"See you're already warming up to me."

"That's because you're annoyingly easy to talk to."

"I'm just a charming guy."

"Mmm." Malachite agreed sarcastically. "Modest too." There was a scream inside the infirmary and Malachite threw open the door just as Ikaila went to open it. The girls clashed together and tumbled to the ground hitting their heads. "Ow..." She groaned and looked at the Ikaila. "What is your problem woman?"

"Where are we?" She asked in a panic oblivious to the bruise forming on her head.

"We're at their sanctuary. It's like some sort of council." Malachite rubbed her head. "That hurt."

"What was that thing in there?" She pointed at the infirmary.

"That's a doctor." Skulduggery piped in.

"That's a doctor? It looks like it _needs_ a doctor." Malachite smiled.

"I know right? It's creepy." Ikaila chuckled at the way she said it.

"You're creepy." She mumbled and stood up.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Malachite asked though no one put their hand up.

 **A/N Follow and Comment! Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to do so. I am really excited about what is coming. Please Enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Ok, really long chapter here, lots to pay attention to. I kind feel like this is moving really fast but I don't know how else to do it so, please tell me what you think. Is it too rushed? Could I have done something else here? I want to make the excuse that in real life things might not happen slowly and that things can actually happen one after another in a bit of a rush. But anyway, I hope its good. Enjoy.**

Chapter 3 Secrets

Malachite stopped complaining about being hungry after she was told to shut up for about the fourth time. Ikaila had no idea what had happened earlier though as usual Malachite did. And once again she wasn't sharing with any one. It annoyed Ikaila how she did always did this, but then again she always had a reason. Valkyrie and Skulduggery left the girls in some sort of waiting room while they went to talk to the Grand mage. Whoever that was.

Ikaila rested her feet on a chair and lazily watched Malachite as her foot tapped the ground rapidly. Neither of them were overly patient though Ikaila could last a lot longer. Malachite jumped up from her seat and started pacing back and forth in boredom. It was quite an amusing site watching her friend squirm. Eventually she turned to the waiting room door and opened it.

"What are doing?" Ikaila ask as Malachite peeked outside.

"I'm bored so I'm going to explore."

"You'll get in trouble." She chimed.

"No I won't. Aren't you just a little bit curious as to what is in this place?" Ikaila shook her head. They both knew it was a lie but Malachite rolled her eyes any way and walked out the door. She bit her lip. Now she really did want to go and explore. With the boredom eating away at her, Ikaila stood from her seat and stepped out into one of the many halls in the sanctuary.

Malachite was nowhere in sight though they'd probably find each other again. This place couldn't be that big.

Ikaila immediately regretted those thoughts as she found herself lost. She couldn't even remember how many turns she had taken. She walked around as if she knew where she was going and hoped no one would notice.

"You look lost." A black haired man said from behind her and her shoulders sagged slightly. She turned around to face two men. "My name is Saracen Rue." She shook the first man's hand.

"Ikaila Skye and I'm not lost just exploring uncharted territory."

"Oh course you are." Smiled the man with short blonde hair. "Dexter Vex." She shook his hand. "I haven't seen you around here before, truthfully I'm rarely here to know but are you new?" She shrugged.

"Yes and no."

"You're helping Skulduggery with his new case." Said Saracen.

"How did you know?" He smiled and tapped his nose.

"I just know things." Dexter rolled his eyes.

"You can ignore him if you want. He likes showing off." Ikaila nodded slowly.

"Ok then well I better get going." She turned to walk away when Valkyrie walked up to them. Uh oh.

"There you are." She said slightly annoyed. "Do have any idea where Malachite has gone?" Ikaila shook her head. "Well that's helpful." She mumbled.

"I came looking for her after she got bored and wondered off. You can't leave her alone without her doing something annoying. She's like a two year old." Valkyrie looked up at Dexter and Saracen.

"Oh hey. What are you guys doing here?" She gave them a smile.

"I was in town and thought I'd pop in to say hello then I heard about an escaped prisoner on the loose and got curious." Dexter smiled.

"I was just bored and heard about the escape." Saracen shrugged. "Where's Skulduggery?"

"He's looking for her friend." She said pointing to Ikaila. Saracen blinked.

"You might be interested to know that someone has just broken into the sanctuary." Then the lights went out.

Malachite's POV

The lights went out and Malachite immediately froze. With no other light source it was pitch black and way too quiet. It just so happen she had wondered off to the most remote part of the sanctuary she could find near something called repository. A hand landed on her shoulder and she screamed as Skulduggery clicked his fingers illuminating the corridor. If he had a face he'd be smiling and she'd be slapping it.

"I hate you." She growled.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you're afraid of the dark." He sounded amused and that annoyed Malachite.

"I'm not afraid of it I just don't like being blind."

"So you're afraid of being blind." He stated. She shook her head.

"No I just respect its ability to render me helpless. There is a difference." They started down the corridor with caution Malachite not game enough to run in this amount of light. There were other little bubbles of light walking around some running trying to figure out what was happening. "There's something in the repository." She said pointing to the flashes of a torch and an open door. He let the flame in his hand go out and Malachite tensed at the sudden darkness. She forced herself to focus on the torches on the other side of the room and walked just a little bit closer to Skulduggery resisting the urge to grab his sleeve. Instead, she listened to the voices echoing from the repository and watched the beams of light dance around like a cheap light show.

"Come on where is it?!" One man screeched his torch scanning the shelves frantically. Malachite followed Skulduggery through the shelves, his bony outline making her think of the worst horror movies. She swallowed her fear and forced herself to keep walking ignoring the a million and one possibilities swimming through her head. Most possibilities for a great horror story.

"I think I've got it." Another man said proudly and all torches turned to him. Malachite didn't notice Skulduggery stop therefore bumping into his back letting out a frightened squeal. All commotion stopped and all the torches turned to their direction. She silently cursed. Skulduggery didn't bother with discreetness, he clicked his fingers but Malachite grabbed his hand and the flame went out.

"They're mortal and they have guns." She whispered and in a flash of light she saw him nod and put on his facade. With his night vision he snuck up to the men and Malachite heard the crunch of bone on flesh. The lead man cursed and started yelling into his radio.

"Turn the lights on in the repository, now!" There was another painful cry and a thump as someone fell to the ground. The men lifted their guns and fired into the darkness the beams from the torches shooting around the room looking for their attacker. Suddenly the lights turned on and the remaining five man zoned in on Skulduggery two of them noticing Malachite huddle next to one of the shelves. They broke off from the group attacking Skulduggery and pointed their guns at Malachite as she tried to run. "Put your hands up now." The lead guy demanded and she complied with a smile. She held her hands up and turned them sharply sending objects flying at them. In the confusion she pounced forward and a sent her palm into his chest using her mind to throw him into his companion.

She grabbed a stone off the bench and went to slam it into one of the men's head. However, the rock had other plans. Pain burst through her hand and the rock glowed, catching everyone's attention as it burned the skin of her palm. She dropped it only after it seared her, blinking back the tears that pooled in her eyes.

She just made out a fist as it hit her across the jaw, sending her into the table. Something fell from the roof and her two attackers cried out as Ikaila jumped down on top of them. Yet another trick she had picked up herself. She grabbed an old looking vase and smashed it over one man's head before running up onto the wall again grabbing another vase on the way and dropped on the second man's head. They both groaned on the ground but didn't get up.

Skulduggery walked over to them, his three attackers already unconscious. Ikaila dropped down to Malachite who stood up wiping blood from her lip. "Why am I always the one that gets either thrown across the room or punched in the face?" She chuckled while Ikaila just looked at her hand.

"You're hurt." She stated.

"I'm fine." Malachite assured.

"The rock burnt you."

"How long were you sitting there?"

"Long enough."

"And you didn't think to help?" Ikaila shrugged.

"You had it under control."

"Until I got punched in the face."

"Yes, up until then you were fine." They looked at Skulduggery as he bent down to pick up the rock. "Don't-" They said in unison but he had already picked up the rock. It didn't glow and it didn't burn, in fact it didn't do anything. Skulduggery moved it towards the girls and it still didn't do anything

"Now that is interesting." He mused and looked to her hand. "You should get that looked at." She put her hand into her jumper pocket glaring.

"I'm fine." She said as he touched the symbols making his facade slide away.

"Also I thought you said no magic." She gave a sly smile.

"Yes well mine is more subtle." Malachite left the conversation and walked up to the leader of the group, kneeling down in front of him just as Valkyrie and two other men walked over.

"Hi." Malachite said as she placed her hand on the guy's forehead. "Count." She said before she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to be pulled away.

"What are you doing?" Valkyrie asked but got no answer.

"She's absorbing his memories." Ikaila said simply.

"She's a sensitive." Skulduggery confirmed. "Why didn't she just tell me that when I asked?" Ikaila shrugged.

"She's really shy and doesn't like giving anyone any kind of information."

"And you?" Valkyrie asked.

"I give the necessities and keep a wary eye on people. I'm cautious but not paranoid. My opinion is she watches too many movies where everyone is always trying to betray someone and confuses it with reality." Malachite stood up leaning her weight on Ikaila's foot. "Ow." She growled.

"Well don't talk to me behind my back."

"Fine I'll always make sure you're facing me while I talk about you." She rolled her eyes.

"Were you even counting?"

"Of course. Though you obviously didn't need it this time."

"How long was I in for then?"

"Five seconds."

"Six." She corrected and Ikaila pulled a face. "Do you want to know what I found out or don't you?" Malachite looked to the two new people. Then looked to Ikaila for an explanation.

"That's Dexter Vex." Ikaila said pointing to the first man. "And that's Saracen Rue." She said pointing to the other. They both waved.

"Please tell me someone knows what is going on." A man said as he walked in looking at all the unconscious men.

"I kno-" Malachite was out spoken as Dexter and Saracen greeted the man.

"Ravel! Long-time no see." They shook hands warmly.

"Sorry I didn't get to meet you when you arrived. Things as Grand mage are hectic." Everyone looked as the man on the ground next to them groaned and started moving. "Someone get a sensitive on that man." He said calmly.

"There's no need I've-" Malachite clenched her fist as once again some spoke over her.

"Skulduggery do you have any id-"

"Oi!" Everyone looked to an angry Malachite. "If anyone would care to pay attention I have already searched his mind!" She practically yelled. Ikaila smiled as Valkyrie whispered to her.

"I thought you said she was shy." Malachite's eyes whipped to her.

"Yeah well I got bored of being shy." Valkyrie looked to Ikaila to see if she was serious and she nodded.

"She's serious." She whispered back.

"Now would you like to hear what I learned?"

"I would like to interrogate him myself." Skulduggery said as the man started waking up properly. He looked to Malachite who raised an eye brow to him. "You seem to have a habit of withholding information." She went to interject but the man on the ground struggled to his feet and actually attempted to run away. Dexter stuck out his foot and the man tripped, narrowly missing falling on his face.

"Now what was that for?" He said smugly. "We're not that scary." Dexter looked at Skulduggery. "Well he might be but he won't hurt you. Well that is if you tell him what he wants to know." Dexter hauled him to his feet and the man looked at no one but Malachite.

"You filthy brat!" He spat. "How dare you get in my head!" He smiled. "None the less it doesn't matter what you know. It doesn't matter if you capture us or even kill us. He'll still come for her." He looked at Ikaila then back to Malachite who advanced forward and punched his face. Everyone blinked. Well apart from Skulduggery who just shrugged and walked up to the man.

"Well that proves my point." He grabbed the man's other arm and walked him out of the repository with Dexter still holding one of the man's arm.

"Well that was eventful." Saracen said. Malachite ignored the comment and walked out knowing Ikaila was in tow.

"Hey what was that about?" Malachite kept walking ignoring her. "Hey!" She grabbed her hand and spun Malachite around. "What was that about?!"

"I don't know." She said quietly looking at the ground.

"Stop keeping things from me. I know you know." Ikaila said getting lowering her voice. Malachite looked up with fearful eyes.

"Why doesn't anyone believe me? I don't know ok? In his mind I got glimpses of things. Of people, but none of it made sense. Shade wants us for some reason and for once I don't know why." Malachite poured all her anger and fear into her eyes and eventually Ikaila hugged her. Malachite could feel the guilt in Ikaila's stomach. She felt guilty for not believing her friend even though it was she who should be feeling the guilt. They let each go with a nod as Saracen and Valkyrie walked out.

"Take us to the interrogation room." Ikaila demanded while Malachite added.

"Please." They calmly walked to the interrogation room where Dexter was looking bored and if it wasn't possible before for a skeleton to look annoyed it was now. "Having trouble?" Malachite asked almost smugly as they walked in.

"He says he's giving us the silent treatment." Dexter answered just making the girls smile widen as they tried not to laugh.

"And here I thought that if you found a mortal that didn't scream at you, you'd be best friends." Saracen chuckled.

"If you're all so smart why don't you come up with a way to make him talk?" Skulduggery said not sounding amused.

"Ooh we could use tickle torture!" Ikaila beamed.

"Somehow that doesn't sound very threatening." Said Dexter.

"That's what they all say." She said in a dark voice. "Then the tickling starts. It starts off as a slight tingle and a light chuckle. Then it becomes unbearable as you your breath is stolen away and you just laugh and laugh and laugh unable to breathe." Malachite shook her head at her friend.

"Somehow you have made tickling sound intimidating."

"Tickling is a very dangerous sport." Everyone looked at Ikaila slightly confused.

"I don't think it's a sport." Valkyrie said slowly.

"Well it should be." Ikaila said determinedly.

"I have an idea." Malachite beamed next and everyone prepared for a ridiculously childish way. "We could hang him upside down and nick his neck. Not enough to kill him but enough for the blood to drain out of his body and-" She stopped herself. "That sounds very violent doesn't it?" Everyone nodded.

"How about we try something not so childish and not so... violent." Skulduggery suggested. Malachite nodded like a child.

"That sounds like a very good idea." She agreed. "Or you could let me tell you." She looked at Skulduggery with a certain look in her eyes and he nodded. "Well for starters I know he works for Alex Shade." The man rolled his eyes. "Also his name is Jonathan Grace."

"Hey it's Max Paisley not Jona-" He realised what he did and shrank back into his chair. Ikaila smiled and patted Malachite's shoulder.

"Max Paisley." Skulduggery said deep persuasion in his voice. "Why were you sent here?" It was clear that Skulduggery was using his given name against him and it was amusing how well it worked.

"I-I was sent here to steal something." He stuttered. Malachite looked down at the hand still in her pocket.

"What?" She looked up in realisation. She had glimpsed it when the lights were flashing around the room.

"The rock." Skulduggery looked up at her. "What did you do with the rock? The one that burnt me."

"It's still in the repository I- Hey where are you going!" Malachite sprinted out of the room Ikaila, as always, right beside her. Some had to make sure the child didn't get hurt.

The repository doors were off their hinges and on the ground one of the splintered down the middle. A shelf had been knocked over and two cleavers had been killed thanks to deep gashes on their chests. Moving around the puddles of blood they walked up to where the rock had been. Of course it was gone. Why wouldn't it be?

"I have decided." Ikaila said as Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Dexter and Saracen ran in. "That I do not want to know what came through here."

"I think I agree with you. The rock is gone." Malachite announced.

"How did something come in here without us noticing?" Valkyrie asked.

"Billy-Ray." Skulduggery answered from his position next a web of cracks on the ground.

"Ok if anyone knows what that rock is now would be a good time to pipe in." Dexter said toeing a dead cleaver. Malachite pulled out her burnt hand and looked at it. She furrowed her eyebrows as the sudden knowledge appeared in her head.

"It was a map." Everyone looked up. "Underline was." She added.

"What you mean it was a map?"

"I mean it held the information of a map. When it transferred the information it stopped being map and returned to a boring old rock."

"If you get any vaguer I will hit you." Ikaila threatened.

"The rock was similar to an echo stone though instead of a conscience it stored information. In this case a map."

"Is there even such a thing?" Valkyrie asked. Skulduggery shrugged.

"It's possible." Skulduggery turned his skull to Malachite. "How do you know what an echo stone is?" She shrugged, still staring at her hand.

"I just do. What you should be asking is why did the rock transfer the information to me and not the guy who grabbed it before me?"

"Maybe only a sensitive could absorb the information." Skulduggery theorized allowing the subject of Malachite's secrets to drop for now. "Either way you now have another thing Shade clearly wants."

"I bet I'm his favourite person right now." Malachite grumbled.

"Hey guys." Saracen called. "Do you think it would help if I told you I found a note?"

"That could be helpful yes." Skulduggery said and they all walked over to a note that was stabbed into the wall with a bloodied knife.

 _She isn't who you think she is,_

 _AS_

Malachite hid her fear but had a feeling everyone already knew who it was talking about. Skulduggery turned ever so slightly to look at her. So did Saracen. Valkyrie and Ikaila noticed and turned to see what the problem was.

"I wonder who its talking about?" Dexter mused still looking at the note. When no one answered he looked around and noticed everyone was looking at Malachite. "Am I missing something?" Valkyrie shrugged.

"I'm just following everyone else." She whispered. Ikaila looked at Skulduggery.

"You can't seriously think it's talking about Malachite." She said stepping in front of her friend.

"Your friend has been acting strange ever since she has arrived."

"She's surrounded by a bunch of strangers and is like stupidly shy! Of course she is going to act strange. I mean you should see her in class. She never says a word unless the teacher asks her a question." Ikaila exclaimed.

"Really? Because she seems to be able to talk to us fine." Valkyrie pointed out.

"That's because I'm here. She's not great but she's getting better." Skulduggery stepped forward.

"We don't mean the fact that she isn't talking to anyone. That I had already figured out, and it isn't because she's shy. I assume that's what she just lets people believe. Anyway that's not the point, no right now. The point is she knows a lot more than she is letting on."

"She just knows things like he can." She pointed to Saracen.

"I know the extent of that ability and though she's a sensitive unless she'd read our minds she shouldn't know that much." She turned to Malachite.

"Why are you just sitting here? They're accusing you of." She paused and turned back to them. "What are you accusing her of?"

"She's been withholding information."

"But she hasn't been keeping information from us. Have you?" She didn't meet Ikaila's eyes and that instantly told her the truth.

"Would you mind coming to an interrogation room?" Malachite rolled her eyes at Skulduggery.

"I'm not a criminal. I work for the Australian Sanctuary." She glanced at Ikaila. "I found out about magic when I was eight. My dad had been working for the sanctuary and I caught him one night. I asked him to teach me and he agreed. He showed me the sanctuary and I was trained in magic." She was now avoiding all eye contact with Ikaila. "Ikaila and I had always been best friends because my dad had been assigned to keep an eye on her family. He didn't think we'd grow so close but in a way it was a good thing we did. The sanctuary assigned me to protect her and I swore to do so even though I didn't need to be ordered to do so." Malachite finally looked up at her friend. She was pale and Malachite could see the emotions swimming inside her.

"Why?" She asked her voice laced with anger. "Why were you assigned to protect me?"

"Because you have something very powerful inside you, called a seed of magic. It's why you can do magic and adapt to different disciplines so easily. It's also why Skulduggery's finger fell off when you had the episode. You absorbed some of the magic which is holding him together."

"I suddenly don't want to be around you." He said making sure his hand was in tacked. The girls didn't pay him any attention.

"So what you're saying is all this time, you have been reporting back to some council about my progress. That I'm nothing more than some specimen to take care of. You have lied to me my whole entire life." Malachite went to interject but was interrupted by Ikaila's hand. She didn't retaliate. She didn't even try and stop her.

"All I can say is sorry." She whispered looking up at her heart broken friend.

"If this is a joke it isn't funny."

"It's not a joke. When you were only a few months old a man came to visit you. He chose you as the host for the seed."

"Why?" She fumed.

"Because you were the only match. The seed can't survive by itself. It needs a human host that's strong enough to contain its power while keeping it alive. That's why Shade is after you, he wants the seed." There was a moment of horrific silence before Ikaila nodded.

"And who exactly is Alex Shade?" She asked keeping herself calm. Malachite glanced at everyone else but they were all keeping silent not wanting to interfere.

"Alex Shade is an elemental. He's the kind of mage who believes that they're good enough to rule over the humans and thinks the Sanctuaries are forcing everyone to hold back their true power."

"So what he's some sort of nut?" Ikaila asked seemingly forgetting the earlier conversation.

"You seem to be taking this very calmly." Dexter commented.

"Truthfully I'm ticked as hell." Malachite looked down guiltily. "But, I've known Malachite since we could speak. She may have been keeping things from me but she's still my friend, no my sister and a couple of really big lies doesn't change that." She smiled. "Much."

"Aeternum Promitto." Malachite whispered.

"Aeternum Promitto."

"Ok its good an all you've made up but we should really focus one stopping Shade." Valkyrie interrupted.

"Yes we probably should." Malachite turned to Skulduggery. "To do that though we'll have to go somewhere."

"Where?" Almost everyone asked.

"My grandparents' house. Last time I was here I left something there that will help me see the map better."

"Can't you just show us?" Ikaila asked.

"No, I don't even know where it leads to. It's imprinted in my mind but its hidden itself so I can't figure it out."

"What does the map even lead to?" Valkyrie asked.

"I'll tell you on the way. Dexter, Saracen I assume you'll be coming with us?" They both nodded.

"There is no way we're going to miss something as exciting as this." Dexter grinned.

"Besides we have nothing better to do." Saracen shrugged.

 **A/N Follow and Comment!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Malachite's POV

"So what exactly is this artefact?" Valkyrie asked turning around to face the back of the girls in the back of the car. It hadn't taken them long to convince Ravel to let them go and by convince what they really did was pop into his office told him what they were doing then left before he could even start to argue. Skulduggery said that it wasn't a new thing for him to do so they won't be in too much trouble when they get back. At least that's what he hoped.

Saracen and Dexter drove behind them and every time Malachite glanced at them they looked like they were arguing over something. They seemed to argue a lot those two but at times it could be called more of a friendly banter. It was very amusing watching the two.

Malachite hesitated before she answered Valkyrie. "I don't actually know but if we figure out its location it will be easy enough for us to find."

"What does the artefact do?" Skulduggery asked. "You seem to be making a very big deal out of it but once again you haven't told us what it does."

"You hadn't asked yet. The artefact is completely harmless to us, in fact if one of us was to hold it we'd become very powerful."

"That sounds cool, why is it so bad? Apart from the fact it could make our bad guy badder."

"If someone was to hold it, as in touch it with their bare skin it would start to drain all of Ikaila's power hence draining her life with it." Ikaila frowned.

"No one touch that Artefact." She ordered quickly.

"If we can't touch it then how are we supposed to get it?"

"Only Ikaila can touch it."

"Hold on but if only Ikaila can hold it then doesn't that make her a package deal. Buy one get one free?" Valkyrie asked.

"Hey no one is buying anyone." Said Ikaila.

"It'll just mean protecting her is that much more important." Skulduggery piped in.

"Hey protecting me is important with or without the stupid artefact!" She exclaimed.

"I don't know all this stupid ritual stuff is doing my head in. This is like the most talkative I've been to strangers and it's getting on my nerves. Too much information is being given out freely."

"You really have a thing about giving away information don't you?" Valkyrie quarried.

"Knowledge is a very powerful thing. In the wrong hands or used the wrong way it can destroy almost anything." Ikaila narrowed her eyes.

"You sound weird when you talk all grown up like." Malachite shrugged.

"How far are we from my grandparents place?"

"About two minutes closer from when you last asked." Skulduggery quipped. "We're almost there so just be patient." Ikaila scoffed.

"Asking her to be patient is like asking a brick wall to dance." She paused. "Wait no that would be easier."

"Hey! I can be patient if I need and want to be." The world spun and was filled with the scrape and crunch of metal on metal, the screech of tires and the screams and cries of the passengers of the Bentley. Glass shattered, metal bent and scrapped along the road as the car rolled down the side of the road until it hit a tree.

Malachite looked over at Ikaila noticing the streak of blood down the side of her head. She ignored the pain in her head and ribs and crawled over to her friend wiping some of the blood from around her eyes. "Hey? Are you ok?" Ikaila groaned her eyes only half open. "Skulduggery? Valkyrie?" Skulduggery was the only one to respond.

"Why is it always the Bentley?" He grumbled. Something knocked against the side of the car door and Malachite turned just in time as a hand grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her out of the car. Her attacker threw her onto the ground and she lashed out with her foot satisfyingly hitting something that grunted on impact.

In the background she could hear Skulduggery kicking open his heavily dinted car door and knocked it off its hinges to make it easier to pull Valkyrie and Ikaila out of the car. "It's good to see you again Malachite." Alex Shade said as he leaned over her. She cursed at him and tried to kick him again earning a kick to the stomach that sent her rolling.

"Hey!" Ikaila yelled as she walked away from the wreckage once known as a Bentley. "Leave her alone!" Ikaila yelled her hands two balls of flames.

"Ikaila is it?" Shade asked grabbing Malachite's neck 'helping' her sit up. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced." He squeezed her neck tighter. "Go on Malachite, introduce us." Skulduggery came to stand next to Ikaila gun out, pointed at Shade's head. "Oh, now this is a pleasure. The great skeleton detective holding me at gun point? My I never thought I'd see the day!" He laughed. They both took a step closer and Shade pulled out a knife and held it to Malachite's throat. "Now let's not get carried away here." They both stopped and Skulduggery took some version of control.

"You know, I'm actually surprised you came alone. Malachite has told us of how you had once planned to destroy the sanctuaries and I thought it would have to take a smart man to do that, but frankly I'm disappointed. No offense of course." Shade smiled.

"Oh, none taken, none taken. I'm actually glad you asked. It's true I had considered bringing more than the two men fighting your friends Rue and Vex but then I thought to myself: Why go to the trouble of kidnapping two people when I can kidnap one and have the other come crawling to me. It made more sense to me considering the fact that the said girl can be more powerful than me." Ikaila glared and went to say something but was interrupted by Malachite's attempt to escape. She elbowed his stomach and twisted around trying to remove his hands but somehow ended up on the ground. He'd easily over powered her and used her own momentum to push her down. He slipped a knife into her side and a silent gasp escaped her lips. She would have screamed when he twisted the blade if it were not for his hand covering her mouth. "Now, now the screaming is supposed to come later." He smirked making Ikaila fume.

"Let her go now you twisted rat!" Shade kept smirking.

"If you wish for that to happen meet me at the church tomorrow. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happens if you don't." Tears brimmed Malachite's eyes as she held the area around the blade. "Billy-Ray, you can come get me now." The ground cracked underneath them and a pair of hands reached up and pulled them both down.

Ikaila's POV

After a moment of shocked silence Ikaila turned to Skulduggery.

"Why didn't he take me!?" She practically yelled. "It's me he wants not Malachite! Why didn't he take me?" She felt like crying but as usual no tears came.

"He stated it himself it makes it easier if he takes Malachite. This way he has leverage against you." Valkyrie groaned behind them as she finally came to.

"What the hell happened?"

"You missed all the excitement." Skulduggery stated.

"That may have been my fault. I think… I think I was using your power." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry." Valkyrie waved it off.

"Where's Malachite?"

"Shade has her." Ikaila said sourly.

"Where's Saracen and Dexter." Skulduggery looked around.

"That is a good question." He helped Valkyrie up and they started walking up the road.

"Hey! What are we going to do about Shade? We can't leave Malachite with him."

"And we won't, but for now there isn't anything we can do. Our deadline is tomorrow so we have till then to come up with a plan." Ikaila didn't looked pleased.

"Oh yeah smarty pants? And what plan would that be?" They reached the top of the road.

"I'm sure it'll be something brilliant." Skulduggery said with a confident voice. Ikaila grit her teeth and tensed and un-tensed her hands to stop them from smashing into someone's face. She focused on the closest thing she could focus on and looked up at the smashed car before them. The windows were scattered across the road in tiny pieces and the metal had drawn lines in the tarmac. The door had been ripped off and fuel was leaking from the metal beast. Ikaila stepped over a tire and she watched Dexter walk up to them dragging a beaten up thug behind him.

"This is one of Alex's guys." Dexter helped him to his feet but that didn't last long as Ikaila grabbed him by the collar and, before anyone could stop her, threw him against the battered car.

"Where is my sister!?" She yelled smashing her eager fist into his jaw. Everyone stood and watched for a moment as the young girl, no older than 14 who, only just yesterday, had no other problems than passing school and only ever joked about beating people up, beat the man bloodying both his face and her fist.

Skulduggery and Dexter reacted at the same time pulling Ikaila away from the helpless man. "Let go of me!?" She screamed. "He knows where Alex has taken her!"

"No he doesn't." Dexter said in a firm voice, one quite different from his usual tone. "Ikaila listen to me. He doesn't know. He's just a goon, the muscle." Ikaila wasn't listening as she struggled against Skulduggery's and Dexter's grip. No one noticed Saracen walk up behind them and when they did they didn't expect him to do what he did. He took Ikaila from Skulduggery and Dexter and wrapped her in a hug (no shipping). Ikaila's eyes widened and she didn't struggle as a voice entered her mind.

 _Now who_ _'_ _s the child?_ She chided. _Really? Chucking a tantrum like this and beating that poor stupid goon. He doesn_ _'_ _t know Ika, I already searched his mind. I have only a couple of seconds left and I can_ _'_ _t tell you where I am a) because I_ _'_ _m not there yet and b) I_ _'_ _m a bit distracted. Anyway, calm down, think straight and don_ _'_ _t give Rue a hard time about hugging you. I told him to, it was the easiest way to shock you into calm. Aeternum Promitto._

Malachite left Ikaila's mind and Ikaila slipped to the ground screwing her eyes shut, mentally expelling the rest of her rage. Mal was right. If she was going to find her than she needs to think and she can't do that if she is blinded with rage. Saracen helped her stand and she turned to Dexter and Skulduggery.

"We need to get that map." She said firmly, confidently. "But we also need to find Malachite and all before tomorrow."

"Agreed." Skulduggery mused. Dexter walked back to the group through Ikaila hadn't even noticed him walk away.

"Sanctuary is on its way with a clean-up crew and a ride for us." He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"How are we going to get the map?" Valkyrie asked. "I thought Malachite was the only one with it?" Ikaila shook her head.

"Not necessarily. She just received the map from the rock, but if what she said was right and it works like an echo stone than that means the information would have had to come from somewhere."

"We need to find whoever owned that rock." Saracen confirmed.

"Which means we need a library and a person with access to a lot of information." Dexter piped in making the group sound very smart and sophisticated.

"What do we do once we get the artefact? It still won't lead us to Malachite."

"Finding her is easy." Said Skulduggery. "Alex wants us to find her so that Ikaila can hand herself over. The tricky part is coming up with a way to save her."

"Which is even harder when the enemy is expecting us to come up with a tricky way to save her." Saracen stated.

"So we need to be either really tricky or really simple." Ikaila sighed. "Of course there is no easy way." Dexter laughed.

"Of course not. If there was an easy way it wouldn't be fun." Ikaila rolled her eyes and turned around as a white van drove up to them. Three cleavers jumped out and jogged over to the two goons lying unconscious on the road. She looked at the bloodied face of the man she had beaten up and looked down at her fist cringing when she saw the red bloody skin. The clean-up crew was swift in towing the cars away not bothering with the glass and tiny bits of metal deeming it inconspicuous enough. A medic came to look them all over but being the tough cookies they all were they declined claiming that they were just minor bumps and bruises. Even Ikaila was too proud to ask for the medic, to ask the stranger to look her over.

Someone dropped a car off for them and they all piled in, Dexter taking the wheel while Skulduggery helped Valkyrie and Ikaila clean the blood from their faces and minor cuts. Ikiala had to admit she felt better when her hand wasn't covered in blood. A pang of guilt hit her as she remembered Alex slipping his blade threw Malachite's skin. She hoped she was ok…

 **A/N There you go, another chapter. Review and follow if you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Long time no see guys! Sorry it's been so long, I don't really have an explanation for why it has been so long but yeah... anyway! Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 5

Malachite's POV

Malachite had been tortured before. It was a bit over a year ago when she had been sent out on a job to track down some murderer. It wasn't a big task and was fit for a rookie of her status. She remembered her father had taken the family on a holiday so no one was suspicious of her going away for a few days by herself. Not that she thought about it, it couldn't really be called torture. Not compared to this. It had just a really slow attempt to kill her. A knife here, a knife there she realised now how sloppy that torture was compared to this. This was real torture.

Alex had taken Billy-Ray's straight razor for the pure purpose of making the cuts scar. There was a lot of blood involved. A lot of screaming and sadistic laughter. Alex didn't want the map. That's not why he was doing this. He already knew how to get the map without even needing her cooperation. This... this was just his idea of fun. So she just held on as tightly as she could enduring every cut, stab, punch, twist and gut wrenching throb of pain.

Malachite hit the wall after Alex kicked her hard in the stomach sending her rolling backwards. Her whole body felt bruised and she could count seven gashes and a severe stab wound, and it had only been on hour.

She lay on the ground her eyes threatening to close from blood loss. "Oh no, no, no." Alex chided as he walked up to her. "You can't die yet. You're still important to me." He knelt down on her stomach, right where he had stabbed her. He held the straight razor to her face and started to painfully trace her jaw line. Malachite's eyes shot open. "There we go." He smiled.

Ikaila's POV

Ikaila hadn't meant to but somehow she fell asleep on the way to China's library. The nightmare had made it uneasy and she felt slightly embarrassed that everyone had heard her mumbling in her sleep. The five of them marched up the stairs towards China's library and Ikaila felt slightly nervous. They had all warned her about what she could do and Ikaila was worried she'd fall in love with her and make an utter fool of herself. Besides that the idea of immediately falling in love with a random woman was not appealing.

Skulduggery knocked on the door and a man with a bow-tie answered it. Ikaila imagined Malachite quoting Doctor Who and the thought made her smile before it made her frown and filled her with guilt. She was still alive. She had to be. Shade needed the map and he couldn't get it if he killed Mal.

They walked into the library and met a woman with raven black hair. China was beautiful, Ikaila will admit that but she felt a sense of pride when she didn't fall to her knees and beg for marriage. Everyone kept glancing at her and Ikaila flashed them a smug smirk. No one said anything and the subject was dropped.

"I've had people searching the library since you called and so far." Her voice was smooth and professional and Ikaila could once again imagine Malachite relating her to some character or another or having something humours to say. Ikaila felt guilty again. "We've only found this." She continued pointing to the pile of two books on the table. "And neither of them seem to be what you are looking for." The guilt inside Ikaila led to an idea.

"Hey… do you know anyone who can hack?" Everyone looked to Ikaila and she just smiled.

It turns out China did know someone who can hack and who was apparently very good at it. That was the good part about the situation. The bad part was that the guy, a lanky, skinny man who seemed too tall for just about every chair in existence, kept on hitting on her.

"How about after I've done this for you we go get some coffee?" He persisted typing away at his computer following her apparently bad ass and sexy plan. She didn't even know a plan could be described like that but the guy insisted on it.

"Don't drink coffee." She said bluntly keeping her eyes fixed on the screen. The rest of the gang went off to search through the library, each of them trying to find out anything they could about the seed. If they learnt about the seed they could figure out who would know where the artefact was. That was their plan. Ikaila's plan was to hack into the Australian Sanctuary's computer system and search their files for info on the seed. They probably wouldn't know any more than they did but everyone agreed it was worth a try.

"It doesn't have to be coffee." Lanky man tried to persuade but once he saw the hardened look Ikaila was giving him he shut up and typed even faster. The computer beeped and they were suddenly met with someone's desktop screen. "We're in." He smiled and clicked open the nearest folder. "Let's just hope no one is on the computer right now." He went to type in _seed of magic_ , but Ikaila stopped him.

"Hold on. I want to look something else up first." She took the laptop away from him and typed in a name. There was some guilt behind this but curiosity and determination overpowered it.

Malachite's file popped up and Ikaila skimmed over the boring stuff. Age, birth date, kin. All the stuff she could recite off by heart without a piece of paper to remind her. She found an interview, written out, between Malachite and the Australian Grand Mage.

 _Grand Mage: What_ _'_ _s your taken name?_

 _Malachite: Malachite Burada._

 _Grand Mage: Why did you take it?_

 _Malachite:_ _…_ _I don_ _'_ _t know. It_ _'_ _s just something I_ _'_ _ve always had._

 _Grand Mage: Why do you want to join the sanctuary?_

 _Malachite: ...I want to protect people. I want to protect-_

Ikaila closed that file and moved onto the next. It was a file on one of Malachite's past missions and Ikaila recognised them all. The time she went to Western Australia. The time she stayed in Brisbane for a week. The time she went to England. She could remember every time Malachite went away on a family trip and she could pin point them to one of the missions listed here.

"Maybe you should ask her those questions yourself." Ikaila jumped and shoved the laptop back into lanky's arms as Dexter leaned against the door way behind her.

"I'm afraid she wouldn't tell me the truth." She turned to look at him. It was true. It wasn't that she thought Malachite would lie, rather she was afraid, scared, that she would. Malachite always lied, Ikaila knew that. She lied just as much to her parents, their group at school. Everyone lied. It was human nature. Just... not this much.

"This whole thing has kind of messed up your relationship hasn't it?" She licked her lips feeling a bit self-conscious under is gaze.

"I would have found out eventually." She insisted and his brows shot up confirming the doubt in her stomach.

"Would you? Malachite seems to be good at keeping secrets." Ikaila tried for a smile that was too weak and a bit sad.

"She always kept things bottled up. We both did. Do, we both do." She frowned scared by the fact she was speaking in past tense. Ikaila sighed to cover her urge to scream. She needed a subject change, fast. "Have you found anything about the seed yet?" She half blurted out. She could see it in his eyes that her subject change wasn't subtle but was grateful when he remained silent. Instead, shook his head and she rubbed her tired eyes.

"We'll find her," Dexter assured with a smile to match. "We are the best possible people you could have on your side." Ikaila nodded in agreement.

"I know. It just feels… weird without her here." Another nod of agreement and silence settled. It was rarely silent when Malachite was around. Even if she was afraid to talk to people, though now Ikaila didn't know if that was just an act, she'd whisper into her ear. Pass funny remarks and ideas. Usually they were ideas about ways to create a murder scene or if this person was this or that person that. It was a pass time of theirs. Telling stories. _It_ is _a pastime._ Ikaila reminded herself.

Suddenly lanky's voice pierced her ears and she almost groaned.

"If I tell you I've figured out a way to get what you want without having to track down a second map, will you go on a date with me?" Ikaila spun around to face the persistent teenage looking man.

"Nope." He shrugged.

"It was worth a try." He cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat. "Alrighty then I guess I should get straight to the point. You said your friend said that she had something at her grandparent's house that would help her see the map?" Ikaila nodded. "Well, according to her notes it doesn't project the map from her mind like you thought. It tracks things. I'm assuming her plan was to use the symbol burnt into her hand to trace the information implanted in her to wherever it was in her brain. From there she could locate it and retrieve it. Well, if that's the case and you have the seed of magic inside you and the artefact is connected to the seed of magic than we can use you to trace the artefact and locate it." Lanky concluded his speech with a smile but frowned when the two were silent. "What? Stupid plan? I actually thought it was quite smart. I-" Ikaila grinned at him and gave him a hug.

"If you think this any more than it is I will punch you." She whispered in his ear before pulling away and running out of the room with a Dexter in tow. They both left lanky smiling proudly to himself in front of his computer. "Got a plan. It's pretty good. Everyone in the car." Ikaila muttered abruptly as she passed Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Saracen who had their noses in some books. Dexter laughed and took his time to explain the plan while Ikaila ran to the car and waited impatiently.

After five honks of the horn the four mages made their way to the car and Skulduggery ordered Ikaila to never touch the steering wheel again. She didn't make any promises. Ikaila blurted out Malachite's grandparent's address and they headed off from the library with much haste. The hour drive was consumed by them picking at all the flaws in the plan, the biggest one being how they were going to convince her grandparents to let them search the house without telling them their granddaughter is in grave danger. Ikaila had assured them they weren't mages and that just complicated things.

"Her grandpa is basically blind but he can see enough to recognise her and her grandma, from what I've heard, is pretty sharp so she'll be hard to convince." Ikaila informed.

"That's great and all but what are we trying to convince them?" Asked Valkyrie who was a bit sceptical. That... was a very good question.

"We could tell them Malachite sent us to pick something up because she's sick and can't travel." Saracen suggested. Ikaila pursed her lips.

"Not bad, but what if her grandma wants to then check on her?" She countered.

"We improvise." Was the favourite answer of the trip to which everyone agreed.

"There is one more thing we need to know." Skulduggery piped in. "What is Malachite's given name? I highly doubt her grandparents know her taken name." Ikaila paused for a moment. Right... if they aren't mages they'd have no idea Malachite went by another name. But... she would kill Ikaila if she knew she told them. "Ikaila, we need to know." Skulduggery persisted.

"Ok, ok, but you owe me. She'll make me dig my own grave if she finds out I told you." Everyone nodded. "Haylie." She stated after a moment of hesitation. "Haylie Carson." Everyone took a moment to soak in the name before nodding again. Half an hour later they arrived at Malachite's grandparent's house.

Skulduggery activated his façade and everyone else made sure they look presentable for the elderly couple. Ikaila was the one to knock because Ikaila was the only one who knew Malachite enough to know her grandparents. A woman with short white hair and good skin for her age, opened the door and smiled.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She greeted politely and Ikaila felt awkward that she knew so much about a woman who didn't know her.

"Hi!" She beamed. "My name's Ikaila, I'm a friend of Haylie's." The old woman's face lit up at the mention of her granddaughter.

"Oh? Is she in the country?" Her wrinkles exaggerated her sudden frown. "Why didn't she tell me?" Ikaila's mind scrambled for excuses.

"Ah, she's on a student exchange thing. She wanted it to be a surprise but she's fallen a bit ill." She said, lacing her voice in sympathetic disappointment. Malachite's grandma's expression fell in worry.

"Poor thing, is she ok?" Ikaila nodded a little took vigorously.

"Yes, yes. Fine. She's fine. Just the flu you know? She was never good with the cold." They both laughed at that. "Anyway," now for the tricky part, "she wanted it to be a surprised but couldn't travel to see you and she needs something she left here a while ago." The woman looked a bit sceptical and her eyes drifted to the people behind Ikaila. She was suspicious. Ikaila kept herself calm, refusing to break her façade.

"And are they, friends of Haylie's as well?" She nodded not easing the woman's uneasy look.

"Yep, this is Skulduggery, Dexter, Valkyrie and Sarcen. Don't mind the strange names, we came from a strange family." The woman smiled a smile Ikaila couldn't quite read.

"Well, if Haylie sent you then I suppose I can trust you." She stepped aside and let them in. "Would anyone like some tea?"

 **I hope you guys enjoyed that! More will be coming soon! Vote and review below!**


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